MINUTES
SECOND Meeting of the Villanova University
Senate for Academic Year 2012-2013 in
Bartley Hall 2010 on Friday, SEPTEMBER 28,
2012 at 3:30 P.M.
PRESENT: Dr. Robert Styer, Chairperson; Ms. Elizabeth Heurich, Executive
Secretary; Mr. Joseph Dellapenna, Parliamentarian
Ms. Christine Alizzi; Dr. Wayne Bremser; Mr. Jay Chamberlin; Mr. Jack
Chong; Ms. Ann Diebold; Dr. M. Louise Fitzpatrick; Mr. Steve Fugale;
Mr. Ryan Gatti; Mr. Daniel Goldowsky; Dr. Edwin Goff; Ms. Caroline Kemp;
Dr. Christopher Kilby; Dr. Sarvesh Kulkarni; Ms. Susan Leighton;
Dr. Jean Ann Linney; Dr. Adele Lindenmeyr; Ms. Carmela Migliarino;
Mr. Aaron Moore; Mr. John J. Murray; Dr. Victoria McWilliams; Mr. Vince
Nicastro; Mr. Kevin Noller; Dr. Donna Shai; Mr. Robert Stover; Mr. Richard
Travia ’03; Mr. Daniel Troiano; Dr. Barbara Wall; Dr. Randy Weinstein; Mrs.
Selma Koury Wunderlich ’58 (representing the VUAA president)
Ms. Helen Heron, Recording Secretary
ABSENT Dr. Mary Ann Cantrell (Notified In Advance-Unable to Attend); Rev. Kail
Ellis, OSA (NIA); Rev. John Stack, OSA (NIA); Dr. Gary Gabriele (NIA); Ms. Sophie
Kagan (NIA); Dr. Julie Klein (NIA); Dr. Patrick Maggitti; Ms. Dorothy Malloy, J.D.
(NIA); Mr. Christopher Marroletti (NIA); Ms. Susan Sessa (NIA); Mr. Stephen
Sheridan (NIA); Mr. Ken Valosky (NIA); Dr. Thomas Way (NIA); Dr. Kelly Welch
(NIA)
AGENDA
SENATE SOCIAL – 3:00 P.M.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2012
BARTLEY HALL-ROOM 2010 AT 3:30 PM
Please silence all cell phones. Please put your nameplate at your place for attendance purposes.
INVOCATION – Senator Barbara Wall
I.
II.
III.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES of the April 13, 2012 Meeting
POWER OF INTERPELLATION (if any)
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE
a. Welcome to all the new Senators
b. The Senate requests that each member read Article VII in the Constitution
regarding the absences of Senators at Senate Meetings
IV.
GUEST SPEAKER- Mr. Paul Xhori, UNIT
Brief presentation on the new University Senate web site and SharePoint
REPORT FROM FACULTY CONGRESS ON 2012-2013 GOALS AND
OBJECTIVES-Dr. Victoria McWilliams, Chair
VI.
REPORT FROM STUDENT GOVERNMENT 2012-2013 GOALS AND
OBJECTIVES-Mr. Chris Marroletti, Student Government President
VII. REPORT FROM UNIVERSITY STAFF COUNCIL ON 2012-2013 GOALS
AND OBJECTIVES – Mr. Kevin Noller, Chair
VIII. REPORT FROM GRADUATE STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT ON
2012-2013 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES - Ms. Sophie Kagan, President
IX.
REPORT FROM THE VILLANOVA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ON
2012-2013 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES – Mrs. Selma Koury Wunderlich’58
X.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS AND GUEST SPEAKERS
XI.
NEW BUSINESS
XII. ADJOURNMENT
V.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
INVOCATION – Senator Barbara Wall
Oh God, giver of life, we ask you especially this afternoon to be present to all those
gathered here. May we be guided by your wisdom, understanding and ability to listen
to one another. We ask you especially today, the end of another month, to give us
energy and inspiration to approach the next month with even more vigor. We ask this
in the name of the Lord.
1.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES of the April 13, 2012 meeting. The minutes were
unanimously approved with one abstention.
II.
POWER OF INTERPELLATION (if any)
III.
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE
a) Welcome to all the new Senators
b) The Senate requests that each member read Article VII in the Constitution
regarding the absences of Senators at Senate Meetings
ARTICLE VII
After a Senator misses more than two consecutive and/or more than three total
meetings during the academic year, the Chairperson of the Senate shall direct a
letter of inquiry to the specific Senator involved requesting information about
said Senator’s ability to serve and his/her intentions regarding attendance at
future meetings.
c) Senator Styer stated that all the evaluations can be found on the web site.
IV.
GUEST SPEAKER
Mr. Paul Xhori, UNIT gave a short presentation on the Senate web site and
The SharePoint site
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Senator Styer addressed the current changes in the Senate.
He explained that each committee now has a direct line to the administrator
who ultimately must implement the Senate committee wishes.
Goal: efficient speedy implementation.
Example: Some years ago the Senate Mission and Social Justice Committee
worked hard to craft a motion to change the investment policies of the Board of
Trustees to make social justice issues a key component in our investment
portfolio. When the motion came to the Senate, a huge amount of effort was
expended on how to word the motion in a way that would achieve the goals
without unduly restricting the Board of Trustees. The motion was remanded to
the M&SJ committee to rework it. The process would have taken many months
longer if Senator and Vice President Ken Valosky had not agreed to work
directly with the committee in conjunction with the Board of Trustees to draft a
motion acceptable to all parties. This motion was eventually brought to the full
Senate and approved, by which time the students who originally started work
on this issue were gone.
This past year, the Senate Mission and Social Justice Committee considered
becoming a Fair Trade University. Attaining this status required consideration
of complex issues, and the committee worked hard to look at all relevant
aspects. Due to the new committee direct lines, this time the motion went
directly to Senator and Vice President Barbara Wall who was able to shepherd
it through the administrative channels and get it approved over the summer.
The students working on it were able to witness its implementation not terribly
long after they graduated.
This is an example of the efficiency that the recent changes to the Senate
Constitution should encourage. But there is a price for efficiency; we as
Senators must be more vigilant to see what the committees are discussing and
implementing.
Standard parliamentary procedures require committees to prepare minutes
which detail the actions and decisions of the committee. These minutes
traditionally are approved at the next meeting of the committee, and then are
passed onto the main body (the Senate) at their next meeting. So it could take
months before a committee action is known by the larger body. Traditional
committees cannot take action on their own without the final motion being
approved by the larger body, but as we just noted, our Senate has decided to
give our committees power to act directly for the sake of efficiency.
So we are asking all committees to prepare minutes in a timely fashion, and to
approve them electronically as soon as possible, so they can be posted for the
full Senate to review as soon as possible (and potentially could lead to
objections from the Senate members who can override a committee action in
the rare instances where this is justified). Email, the Senate website, and the
Senate Sharepoint site are three tools that can help us to create, approve and
disseminate committee minutes quickly.
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As Senators, we have the major responsibility to review committee minutes and
to raise questions if important aspects of an issue were overlooked by the
committee members. We in turn are responsible to the Villanova community,
so the Senate itself will also modify its procedures so we will draft and approve
our minutes electronically in a timely fashion.
A note on Robert’s Rules of Order: almost all minutes are approved
perfunctorily, with at most minor typos and missed names corrected. Once in a
while, however, substantive phrasing of the minutes is questioned and the
proper wording could potentially lead to significant debate. Whenever
members have a significant disagreement with the wording of the minutes, that
committee will need to hold off approval of the minutes until the membership
can meet in person to debate the precise wording. Our goal in approving
minutes electronically is to lead to efficiency, but not at the price of the
accuracy of the minutes.
He thanked everyone for their willingness to work towards efficiency,
transparency, and responsibility in the legislative process.
VI. FROM FACULTY CONGRESS ON 2012-2013 GOALS AND
OBJECTIVES – Dr. Victoria McWilliams, Chair
I will begin, today by thanking all of the Faculty Congress members, both
past and current, for all that they do to facilitate faculty’s role in governance
here at Villanova. I also give a special thank you to Dr. Q Chung who led
Faculty Congress for the last two years. He sets the bar very high for me! Two
additional events need mentioning. First, thank you to Fr. Ellis and the
University for the faculty salary study. And last, but not least, I thank Fr. Peter
and the generous gift from Oliver Ludwig (1935 – 2010) for Faculty Fridays.
This coming year, Faculty Congress will continue its work on unfinished
business from last year. In many cases, the issues that are brought to Faculty
Congress seek to improve the lines of communication between faculty and
other university constituents. Therefore, one goal that I have is for Faculty
Congress to move forward with its agenda in a way that is as transparent as
possible to faculty at large and to the university’s administrators. We also must
ensure that staff and students understand what we are doing and have the
opportunity for input when we deal with issues that affect them, as well.
Some of the issues that we face also deal with affecting change. In these cases,
it is important that Faculty Congress, the members of which serve as faculty
representatives, seeks to gain relevant input and keeps the different
constituencies informed. Toward this outcome, we will be examining the
manner in which we meet to determine if there is a different model that helps us
effectively communicate and achieve the changes that we seek.
We, of course, will be getting back to the topic of Continuing Non-tenure Track
faculty voting, with a desire to come to acceptable closure. Issues related to
communication, faculty retirement, and responsibilities of faculty
representatives are examples of our upcoming discussions. APC and COF will
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make their own reports and, naturally, work closely with Faculty Congress.
Anyone with questions is encouraged to contact any member of Faculty
Congress, APC, and/or COF as we move forward this academic year.
VII. REPORT FROM STUDENT GOVERNMENT ON 2012-2013 GOALS AND
OBJECTIVES – Mr. Christopher Marroletti, President, SGA
As the Vice President, Lael Hoegen, and I are attending a Board of
Trustees Student Life Committee meeting, we send our deepest regret for our
absence. We appreciate Lizzy Heurich, reading the letter on our behalf. We
would also like to thank the Senate for allowing us the time to update you on
our goals and ambitions for the 2012- 2013 school year.
As some of you may know, two years ago the Student Government Association
underwent a structural change. A change that was integral to the improvement
of the organization. This change has improved and made an impact across
campus and throughout the Villanova community. We are proud to say that
SGA has already been successful in completing goals and creating relationships
across campus. We, as an organization are learning the important stages of
group development, forming, storming, norming and performing as we begin
our school year. We are truly looking forward to many exciting events and
projects this year and hope that you can join us in this excitement.
To being the school year, SGA and the President’s Office hosted their annual
Student Leadership dinner on September 19th. The theme this event was Legacy
of Leadership, to connect and collaborate. We invited Student and Faculty
leaders from all areas of campus to come together to discuss ways, as leaders on
campus; they could leave a lasting impact on the University.
After reading many applications and a weekend of conducting numerous
interviews, the SGA leadership team has filled each of its’ committee’s with a
diverse group students who are innovative and determined to take pride in our
University and advocate for change for every member of the Villanova
Community. Having such an awesome group has allowed for SGA to begin to
plan a year to remember, a way to leave a legacy.
On September 30th, the Student Government Association will partner with the
Garrett Hill Coalition and Bryn Mawr Civic Association to plan the Welcome
Students Picnic for students who live off campus. The Community Relations
Committee has been working with Radnor Township in order to plan a great
event to build a strong community. In an effort to assist with the event SGA
handed out flyers to the local community, and has volunteered to assist with the
set-up and cleanup of the picnic.
Also, it is an exciting year for the country with the presidential election only 39
days away. In July, SGA partnered with the Campus Activities Team and the
Student Nurses Association of Pennsylvania to sponsor a campus wide voter
registration drive. The name of this project has been coined, “Ignite Change. Go
Vote!” The goal of this campaign is to collaborate with the College
Republicans, College Democrats, and the Villanova Political Action Committee
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to register as many students as possible. The campaign began in full force on
September 18th, when Rock the Vote, whose mission is to build political power
in young people, came to campus to register students. Despite some weather
challengers, we are proud to report that 295 students registered to vote. Rock
the Vote was very content and proud of the student turn out. This week,
volunteers from several organizations continued to register students to vote in
all three dining halls across campus.
In late October, SGA, CAT, and SNAP will also hand out stickers that the
President’s office has ordered for those students who live outside the state of
Pennsylvania in agreement with the new Pennsylvania State law that requires
photo ID. On Election Day, SGA will provide shuttle rides throughout the day
to various voting locations where students can vote.
Another event we have begun to plan is a Thank you event for Dining Services,
Facilities, and Public Safety Staff to commemorate everything these wonderful
people do for the student population and Villanova community. Lael and I
discussed that it was only appropriate to take care of the people who take care
of us everyday. Especially as seniors in the Villanova Community, we feel this
is a simple, but heart-felt event that SGA can host for the men and women who
make an impact on the lives of students daily.
It is important to remember that Rome was not built in a day. Together, with
SGA, we hope that by the end of the year we can make this year a legacy.
Hopefully, we have given you an insight into some of the projects SGA has
begun working on and the energy that SGA has to offer to the University. Our
campaign motto was “Our Voice and Your Words.” Lael and I have both found
this job to very humbling and cannot wait represent the students in the best way
possible. We would like to thank the people in this room. You have the ability
to join us in this 2012-2013 school year to make a mark and leave a legacy. We
hope to continue to work together and ask for your support as together we can
make this a better campus.
VIII. REPORT FROM UNIVERISTY STAFF COUNCIL ON 2012-1013 GOALS
AND OBJECTIVES- Mr. Kevin Noller, Chair
The USC will continue in its fourth year to be an open forum where, within
a spirit of respect and frankness, staff representatives and other colleagues will
discuss and address cross-University topics and concerns with respect to
community building, job fulfillment, work process improvement, and other
issues with the ultimate goal of contributing to the University’s Mission and
values.
To accomplish this, staff members will continue their work on the various
committees that comprise the USC focusing on staff development and staff
recognition. The USC’s recently revamped Workplace Improvement Award
will be one area of focus.
Finally, the Executive and Election Committees of the USC will manage the
election process for a new group of USC members as the 2-year term of its
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elected membership expires in January 2013. The goal is to create a smooth
transition for the USC as both the Chair and Vice Chair will be departing four
year members of the Council.
IX. REPORT FROM GRADUATE STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT ON
2012- 2013 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES – Ms. Sophie Kagan, President
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IX.
Current Officers
o President – Sophie Kagan, Human Resource Development
o VP Academics – Ali Yousaf, Human Resource Development
o VP Social Activities – Molly Wiseman, Educational Leadership
o VP Finance – Kim Contegiacomo, Counseling
o Secretary – Denise Diadyk-Sweeney, History of Science
Overall goals
o Get more graduate students engaged by using social media (especially
Facebook and email blasts)
o Partner with other graduate-student organizations to help promote
graduate student life
o Make the connection between Villanova brand and graduate students a
stronger one
o Work closely with Grad Studies Office and our advisor, Paul Steege, to
offer more resources for graduate students
o Student Ambassadors program overview
Recap of Graduate Student Orientation
o Attendance close to 150 new students
o Tours of campus, speakers from Grad Studies Office, Q&A with GSC
officers
Budget
o $650 received from Villanova student life/activities account
o Working with Grad Studies Office to ensure effective spending
Planned events
o Networking Happy Hour (Sept 28th)
o Fall Social (Oct 5th)
o Homecoming Tailgate (Oct 27th)
o Winter Social (TBD – late Jan, early Feb)
o Academic Panel/Event (TBD – late March, early April)
REPORT FROM THE VILLANOVA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ON 2012-2013
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES – Mrs. Selma Koury Wunderlich ’58
1. The Alumni Association will work with the University Advancement
Team to increase the alumni donor giving rate to 25%.
 Five years ago the giving rate was 15%. Two years ago the rate was 21%,
and last year it rose to 23%.
2. The Alumni Association will expand its engagement programs
particularly aimed at students and recent graduates.
Some of the new engagement programs include: --7
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Welcome to the city events held in Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and
Washington, D.C. reach out to recent graduates and others to acquaint
them with the alumni network in these cities. This program was launched
on September 13, 2012. The events attracted more than 500 alumni.
NOVA Dinners (Network of Nova Alumni) were launched in January
2012. It is a series of ten small dinners hosted by alumni for about ten
students per dinner. Students are matched with alumni who have shared
career interests. The program will continue in January 2013 and will be
expanded to other cities.
Regional Leadership Summits--Building on the success of this popular
program, Regional Summits will be sponsored in several cities this year,
and it will involve alumni, parents, faculty and administrators in
discussions and important topical issues.
An Ongoing Program---Alumni Association Scholarship Program sponsored by
ten chapters of the Alumni Association. The program has awarded more than
$500,000 to students from the chapter regions.
3. The Alumni Association will increase its volunteer team by 300
volunteers (or 20%) to 1,800 volunteers and establish an expanded
Volunteer Leaders Conference to orient and recognize these volunteers.
 The Alumni Association is not anticipating growth in the number of
chapters, but strengthening the existing ones. However, following a
recent visit to Beirut, Lebanon by Father Peter, the Association is
working to establish an Alumni Association Chapter in Beirut.
X.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS AND FUTURE GUEST
SPEAKERS
XI.
NEW BUSINESS
Senator Jay Chamberlin noted that the Law School was having issues
connecting to the Internet. Senator Fugale stated the he would address the matter
as soon as possible.
Senator Chamberlin made a motion that Senator Fugale address the
matter at our next meeting. Senator Goff seconded the motion.
XII. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Senator Styer asked for a motion to adjourn.
Senator Wall motioned for the meeting to be adjourned. Senator Fitzpatrick
seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
The scheduled meetings for FIRST SEMESTER Academic Year 2012-2013
are:
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Friday, October 26, 2012 – Bartley 2010– 3:30 PM
Friday, November 30, 2012 – Bartley 2010- 3:30 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Heurich
Executive Secretary
VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY SENATE
EH/hh
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